**** SPOILERS FOLLOW: (BOTH BOOK- AND FILM-RELATED)****
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The problem with "Broken" is that it has none of "Mockingbird"'s moral core. In "Mockingbird," Atticus teaches Scout the importance of standing up for what is right, no matter the cost; in "Broken" (the film version, anyway), teacher Mike touches briefly on the definition of courage, but in general the entire cast spends its time cowering from or being battered, both verbally and physically, by the ridiculously cartoonish Oswald family. What I found most disturbing was the difference in treatment of the "Boo" character between "Mockingbird" and "Broken": while her encounters with Boo teach Scout that she shouldn't judge people by their odd appearance or reclusive behavior, and that anyone can choose to act selflessly and heroically, Rick (the "Boo" in "Broken") is not only a victim but, in the end, a sort of monster. What's worse is that, between "Broken" the book and "Broken" the movie, Rick loses his one semi-heroic moment: in the book, Oswald finally crosses a line that even the infuriatingly lax (as portrayed in both the book and the film, anyway) British legal system can't ignore: he kills Rick and is arrested for murder. (Indirectly, at least, therefore, Rick is responsible for removing psychopathic Oswald from civilized society.) In the movie, Rick kills himself... and we see Oswald, (seemingly) contrite and changed for the better by the death of his daughter Susan (who expires, in the movie, quite conveniently as the result of-- presumably-- an ectopic pregnancy), tenderly cradling comatose Skunk in his arms while he phones for an ambulance. In short, in "Broken" the movie, the real monster (Oswald) gets to play hero... while the real not-monster (Rick-slant-"Boo"), who became monstrous only after the real monster made him so (by beating him savagely and without provocation earlier on), is deprived of all agency and is-- like Susan-- a "problem" conveniently disposed of.
Or something like that. Oswald's supposed change at the end of the film really irritated me. Maybe it's just me the eternal cynic-- though, no, pretty much all of "Broken" encourages a cynical worldview-- but I really wanted to see a tag scene-- "... a week later," or something like that-- when Oswald was back to battering, berating, and bullying his neighbors-- and they, once again (and most unlike Atticus Finch), were letting him get away with it.
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griffykate
10 years ago
I too have only just watched - I liked the evolution of Oswald, that he became both hero and monster without either cancelling out the other, because people often really are that complex.
But I was rather disturbed by Rick's evolution into a murderer. The moral of the story there seemed to be in the vein of 'the harshness of the world will provoke mentally ill people to a path of dangerous psychopathy from which no amount of love and respect from friends and family can save them', and that didn't sit comfortably with me AT ALL.
For me, that was a sour note in an otherwise wonderful movie.
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zolazona
10 years ago
I thought there was only a surface comparison to Kill A Mocking Bird. The core aspect to KAMB was the unlawful arrest of a black man who had been falsely accused of rape in a small Southern US town and the brave defense of him by Scout's father. Nothing in this movie had a parallel story to that book/movie.
I felt this movie had too many story lines. One of them in my opinion could have been dropped, such as the whole Oswald family mess. I kept thinking what a hell of a cul de sac to live in.
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